"Jurassic World"
isn't scheduled to start the New Orleans portion of its shoot until June, but
it's already generating plenty of excitement locally. Some 1,500 close-up-ready
hopefuls attended the first day of a two-day opening casting call Saturday (March 29) at Metairie's
Grace King High School, hoping to snag one of thousands of roles as background
extras.

"My wife and I (were extras) in a movie called 'Focus' with
Will Smith a few months ago," local resident and "Jurassic World" hopeful Ronald
Ohrabka said at Saturday's event, referring to the Warner Bros.-backed con-man
film that Smith recently
shot in town with Margot Robbie and Rodrigo Santoro. "So we just thought
we'd try it again. ... It was a lot of fun."

The casting call -- which will continue Sunday
(March 30) from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. -- was advertised as being for a movie titled
"Ebb Tide," which is the working title for what will become the fourth film in
the "Jurassic Park" series, started in 1993 by director Steven Spielberg.

This latest installment will be directed by Colin Trevorrow
("Safety
Not Guaranteed"), with Spielberg among the film's executive directors.
Production is getting ready to start in Hawaii, but the film will move to New
Orleans this summer for 11 weeks of soundstage work.

Universal Pictures, the studio behind the film, is staying
mum on plot details, although Trevorrow's film will reportedly feature a
largely new cast featuring Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Irrfan Khan and Ty
Simpkins, among others.

"I know a lot of fans want to see the original characters
back," Trevorrow
recently told IGN.com. "They're iconic. But I respect those actors too much
to shoehorn them into this story for my own sentimental reasons. 'Jurassic
Park' isn't about the bad luck of three people who keep getting thrown into the
same situation. The only reason they'd go back to that island is if the
screenwriters contrived a reason for them to go."